Puzzle 1
Starter clue: X = E
XZZWZQ,CMUXQFZREQ,GSWAFDXQGZORTXOCWE;DXEDWEWGCPQXRZTDOWZSXRZCQVGQFPMNXJXCWE.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Nature Cryptograms Set 40
6 cryptograms to solve with a pencil. Each letter of the quote has been swapped for another letter, and the same swap holds all the way through.
20 pt ciphertext — the size a newspaper puzzle page never gives you. 26 pt ciphertext with wide letter spacing and room to write. Both sizes print on US Letter with the answer key on its own page.
Printing this web page instead? Press Ctrl+P (⌘+P on a Mac). The navigation and buttons drop away, and the answer key prints on its own page — open it below first if you want it included.
The puzzles
Puzzle 2
Starter clue: G = E
BYFZQGLAYHGQARBYULFWARKYAFYBVZBLKGQAYUFCYFNGCYKGBGKGQAGGBRBGRECGQEGYFZQGA.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 3
Starter clue: C = E
ZBGCXBHGZDBHQFDDKCXHGZDBDBMYZFYCBALXZBRKCHFCSLUGVCVHUCAZUBDGHDBC-MHPUGXCCG.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 4
Starter clue: D = E
ONDIPLONIMDWDVNGHGMRGVPI,GMHNGWDLMWGVLGUCRIDGCDHONDLVCDOODVISLONONDLVONJPUI.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 5
Starter clue: Y = I
TFXVFAGGYLRYEYUYQHBYXLNHGAEAFKONAFAIAHLBHUYIYBHBYXLHLWFAVMUHBYXLXSRXLBFHRB.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Puzzle 6
Starter clue: Z = N
VFVWZBXZFKFHSOWZWDQZJDQJXT;VFTWZZQBIWHNQZBUFWAEFZTFQMXB,AYBXBOYEBZQBAFEIQPFZ.
Decoder — write your answer under each cipher letter:
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- I
- J
- K
- L
- M
- N
- O
- P
- Q
- R
- S
- T
- U
- V
- W
- X
- Y
- Z
Solver's cheat sheet
- Most common letters
- E T A O I N S H R D L U
- Most common 1-letter words
- A I
- Most common 2-letter words
- OF TO IN IT IS BE AS AT SO WE HE BY OR ON DO IF ME MY UP AN GO NO US AM
- Most common 3-letter words
- THE AND FOR ARE BUT NOT YOU ALL ANY CAN HER WAS ONE OUR OUT DAY GET HAS HIM HIS HOW MAN NEW NOW OLD SEE TWO WAY WHO BOY DID ITS LET PUT SAY SHE TOO USE
- Common double letters
- LL EE SS OO TT FF RR NN PP CC
- Common word endings
- -ING -ION -ENT -TION -LY -ED -ER -EST
- After an apostrophe
- T (don't) S (it's) RE (we're) VE (I've) LL (we'll) D (I'd)
Want this on its own sheet? Print the letter frequency chart.
Show the answer key (6 solutions)
- “Errors, like straws, upon the surface flow; He who would search for pearls must dive below.”— John Dryden, 1678, All for Love, Prologue (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=N B=Y C=L D=H E=W F=T G=U H=J I=Z J=B K=G L=Q M=I N=V O=F P=D Q=S R=A S=P T=C U=K V=M W=O X=E Y=X Z=R
- “Nature is a personality so vast and universal that we have never seen one of her features.”— Henry David Thoreau, 1862, WalkingCipher key: A=S B=N C=H D=C E=F F=T G=E H=P I=Q J=M K=V L=I M=Z N=W O=K P=G Q=R R=O S=B T=X U=L V=D W=Y X=J Y=A Z=U
- “International cooperation on which enduring peace must be based is not a one-way street.”— Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1945, State of the Union AddressCipher key: A=D B=N C=E D=O E=Z F=C G=T H=A I=K J=Q K=P L=U M=W N=X O=J P=Y Q=L R=G S=M T=V U=S V=B W=F X=R Y=H Z=I
- “The Smiths never had any arms, and have invariably sealed their letters with their thumbs.”— Sydney Smith, 1855, Lady Holland's Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith, Vol. I. p. 244 (in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 9th ed., 1891)Cipher key: A=K B=F C=L D=E E=C F=O G=A H=D I=S J=U K=J L=I M=N N=H O=T P=M Q=Z R=Y S=W T=Q U=B V=R W=V X=G Y=X Z=P
- “Progress in civilization has everywhere meant a limitation and regulation of contract.”— Theodore Roosevelt, 1908, Eighth Annual Message to CongressCipher key: A=E B=T C=K D=B E=V F=R G=S H=A I=M J=Q K=Y L=N M=U N=H O=W P=J Q=Z R=C S=F T=P U=L V=G W=D X=O Y=I Z=X
- “We want in every man a long logic; we cannot pardon the absence of it, but it must not be spoken.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1841, Essays: First SeriesCipher key: A=B B=T C=Q D=L E=S F=E G=J H=R I=P J=G K=V L=Z M=F N=D O=M P=K Q=O R=X S=Y T=C U=H V=W W=A X=I Y=U Z=N